Nuclear Reaction

Apr. 22, 1997
60 minutes

Since 1978, no new nuclear power stations have been commissioned in the United States. Americans, once enthusiastic about nuclear power, now consider it one of the most serious risks to human life and health. But the American people's aversion to nuclear power has perplexed many nuclear scientists who believe it poses only trivial risks to the public. FRONTLINE correspondent and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Richard Rhodes looks at what has derailed nuclear power in the United States and at the differing national attitudes toward nuclear power.